Chicken Little

Like most of you, I've eagerly anticipated the arrival of a major update to Final Cut Studio, an application I've been using since version 2.0.
I have followed the various rumor sites and topics here on the COW, but have always maintained -- at arm's reach -- a wait-and-see attitude.

I was stoked about (finally) using all 64 bits of my MacPro, and more than 2gigs of RAM - and of course background processing. I was excited about the possible paradigm shift that Apple is capable of.

But, like any update to any piece of hardware or software that I use to make a living, I planned to wait while others bashed it around in the 'real world'. History always repeats, even for software.

Blindly upgrading your tool kit (to be read: profit center) is lunacy in my personal and professional opinion. This is a lesson l learned back when the Scitex Stratosphere replaced one of our online suites. Updates broke things. Every. Single. Time. "Dark screens and screwdrivers? I'm going home. Call me when it's fixed.", to quote a producer I was working with at the time.

I've been reading, with a degree of amusement but mostly embarrassment, the various threads here these pasts few days. Many are useful, most are just sensational. Would you want your clients to read this forum? They can, and sometimes do.

If we're as professional as we claim to be, we'd approach this new application with caution, curiosity, and an open mind. Of course Apple touted it as the greatest thing since Timecode, why wouldn't they? They are a merchant. You don't have to use FCP X in its infantile state. FCP 7 works just like it did on Monday evening. Your workflow is in-tact.

The sky is not falling, colleagues. This is not the end of the timeline. You have options - they just might not be Apple products, moving forward. Maybe FCP X will be yet another tool in your kit - it will be for me. There will never be a singular application that will be the end-all solution for every problem you encounter - it's simply too much to ask.

Reel in your emotions, stop the hysterics and ad hominem and put on your thinking caps. Approach your disappointment with composure and maybe then we can collectively solve the problem.

My entire FCP Staff and friends that use it for other thing besides Video Blogging....Hate it, because they can't use it with any of the Client Video decks.

Apples made it clear that FCP7 is dead. and I devoted my time and money into a program that they just trash after 11 years? After they got into the film industry at 65% share in post houses. After thousands of people spent money supporting FCS as there tool of trade. This is how they repay us?
If my 55 year old dad (who works in Contracting) loves it and can edit on it already. People who made a living off this are done....

One thing though that makes a pro editor a good one is the ability to figure out work-arounds.

When you say "People who make a living off this are done..." I respectfully disagree. I make my living using FCP, just as I made my living using the Sphere and Media Composer for offline, and before that, reel-to-reel with an Ampex Ace 25 controller. I can still thread that 1" VTR in my dreams.

I don't feel "done", only challenged. The prospect of migrating back over to Avid is actually exciting, or looking into what Premier Pro has to offer, or some combination of them all.

Final Cut 2.0 sucked compared to 3.0 and 3.0 sucked compared to 4.0 and so forth. Now there's a new void in the NLE edit scene.

[Greg Fulcher]"
When you say "People who make a living off this are done..." I respectfully disagree. I make my living using FCP, just as I made my living using the Sphere and Media Composer for offline, and before that, reel-to-reel with an Ampex Ace 25 controller. I can still thread that 1" VTR in my dreams.

Dear Greg, I started too with linear editing with the old ACE Micro (Heck ! I worked for a PBS station on a "Strassner",I think that very few people even know
that this editor controller even existed: when didn't work we actually called Mr Strassner directly!)
I always enjoyed learning new systems.
The goal is to tell a story no matter what system I'm on.
I was also a discreet edit* editor , a system that us editors help to implement.
when was pulled off the shelves we where really upset.
Many editors in this newsgroup recall this very well.
We used edit* for a little time after but without support we had to migrate
to something else, so how long do you think we can go on with FCS 3?
And what will happen to the companies that did a huge investment based on FCP?
I think that we have all the reasons to be mad at Apple.
my 2 cents.

Greg, I have made a great living with FCP over the years and I assure you, I am NOT "done"! You still need to be able to sell... and yes, tell a STORY!... (just don't confuse this with telling stories to sell your self ;)

People forget this constantly, my self included. I catch myself getting freaked out about every Tom, Dick and Jane in the world having Final Cut on their laptop (now more than ever!) and calling themselves editors... or worse yet, production companies... until I go and look at their work... then it becomes abundantly clear that most couldn't tell a compelling visual story if their lives depended on it. They have no concept of pacing, no concept of story, or a good color grade, or what a good sound mix sounds like.... Hell most of them cant even upload a 16:9 aspect video of their cat to YouTube without screwing it up (Although FCPX seems to have even made that easier now).... It really has nothing to do with the tools. It is the art, and FCP is just one of MANY tools out there. SELL YourSelf and the rest will come, no matter what tools you use.

The good news is, the next Walter Murch or George Lucas probably just purchased FCPX as his/her very first editing app and will inevitably make history 10 or 25 years down the road and inspire us all... and more power to them. Tools for the masses allows the cream to rise to the top... just like DV did for many of us here on the COW back in the late 90s. If it were not for that revolution, I would probably still be driving a truck.

So... the choice becomes, pick your tool and go sell your ass off and make films/videos for a living... good or bad.... There are various markets for both no matter what tools you use.
Or.... throw up your hands and pick up a pencil and become a writer, after all, the pencil is as cheap and easy they come.... seems like anyone could be making a living writing novels.... Hmm... ;)

Richard, couldn't agree more. One thing you will learn if you cruise YouTube, Vimeo and the web: As in sports, music, politics, science and most fields, the percentage of people who "get it" and excel in any particular discipline seems to remain roughly the same.

Word processing did not dramatically increase the number good writers; NLEs has not increased the community of good filmmakers.

Rather, when everyone begins doing it, the "language" of communication becomes more universal, more diversified, more nuanced... you have a larger audience as a story-teller because more people understand and appreciate the form itself.

Nothing wrong with FCPX. The only problem pros have -- and don't lecture me on workarounds -- is that we have invested in a product that has suddenly gone AWOL and it is going to cost us grief and resources to retool.

Sure, that's reality in the world of unregulated capitalism. The big corporations always win. But it doesn't mean we should congratulate Apple on delivering to its shareholders at our expense. Call a spade a spade; our professional niche, after a decade of buying software and hardware, has suddenly been declared expendable.

Jamie, what am i trying to accomplish? Have you not spent any time reading through the threads?
People are out of their minds over this, and you're right that it's not worth arguing about - so why all the arguing?

People are done using FCP X professionally and are going to something Else I think its foolish to think that Apple is going to cater to us "PROS" 6 months down the line, stuff isn't missing, Missing implies it had gotten lost, the stuff is NOT THERE. Period. And having apple "Tac" on stuff we want isn't going to do it for me, They Played there cards. Time for a Change.

Its funny though they were right. Everything is about the change in Post and thats the Move from FCP to Avid/Adobe.

You don't stop making cars if 5 years later flying cars may coming out, shame apple, shame....

Same could be said for those you seem to disparage here. There really is no need for it at all.

People have raised concerns, frustrations, workarounds, hope, and many other human reactions to a major shift to things they have come to depend on. It isn't a game for some here, there are investments and a decade of being part of the reason of it's success...

Plus, this is a discussion forum, not a playground. I have called people apologists and water carriers but have also included that it is admirable and appreciate their input
/optimism whenever possible...

Does that sound "over the top" and I have been one of it's harshest critics. I think your thread here is over-reaching and is more about arguing for arguments sake.

We're not robots. And there's no need for this kind of vilification towards their reactions which are more often than not, pretty universal, calm, but disappointed they have to wait and stay where they are even though that tool was yanked off the shelf without warning making this transition very untenable and insecure at best and further an Apple CSR telling one of our kin here they should go elsewhere for their professional needs....kind of compounding this don'tcha think?

Anyways, that's it that's all...no need to start suggesting they are unhinged by these developments